Father Son Bonding
by LukeAndLorelai Brucas Fan
Summary: When she left the house there was a child with his father, but now she's back she can't find either of them. Maybe she should ask the two children upstairs. Future Lit.


Who wants to guess where this one came from? Yes, that's right! Another conversation with Andra-ggfan last night resulted in Rory and Jess' son. Enjoy!

* * *

Returning from the grocery store, Rory Mariano let herself into the house, carrying a paper bag and glanced around for her boys. When she left the house an hour ago, they had been lying on their stomachs under the dinner table, playing with little plastic green soldiers. And seeing as her son was six years old, she didn't really expect for the two of them to still be there after her visit with her mother and quick trip to the store, but they weren't on the couch reading or watching TV... walking through the house to the kitchen she discovered they weren't there either.

There was however evidence that they had been recently. Their latest experiment – cottage cheese and salt and vinegar chip sandwiches – had been abandoned on the counter. Luckily there was also a fresh pot of coffee, so she wasn't about to get mad about the mess.

"He's definitely got Gilmore in him." Rory muttered to herself, putting her purchases away before picking up the ingredients to the strange snack and replacing them where they belonged. Pouring a coffee for herself, she turned around to retrace her steps out to the living room. "Mom will be so proud that he's a freak." She added, making her way up the stairs to continue searching.

Walking along the hallway towards David's room she glanced around quickly. He'd abandoned a few toys on the floor, making it look like the room of any normal little boy, but, as with the living room, and the kitchen, there was no sign of him or his father. Moving inside the room to straighten the covers on the bed and put some of the toys away, Rory found a couple of books hidden in the sheets.

Her books.

_The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_ was stashed in the bed, along with _Alice in Wonderland. Now I understand why the coffee was there, _she mused. _They're buttering me up._ "What other troubles have they gotten themselves into, hmm, Ernie?" Rory asked, picking up her son's cherished teddy bear.

"You'd tell me wouldn't you?"He was so loved, that one of his eyes was falling off and the stuffing had been shifted in his abdomen from receiving so many hugs. The toy had come from his Grandpa Luke, so David loved it more than any other.

Then she heard the giggle, followed by the laugh of an older man.

Smiling to herself, Rory picked up her coffee again and walked further along the hallway to the bathroom. The door was ajar, and now that she was closer, she could hear the voices coming from inside.

"Next week's lesson: shaving."

"Really?" David asked, and Rory could see his excited face in the mirror as he stood on a chair to see into the mirror, watching his father. She could just imagine the mess that would be waiting for her when she returned from errands the next Saturday.

"Sure, why not? It's never too early to learn." Jess replied, flicking a piece of hair to make it sit right. "You try." David stuck his hand into the open jar of hair gel and came up with a large glob, coating most of his fingers. "Ok, remember how we've talked about how less is more?"

"Yeah?"

"This is one of those times." Jess added, scraping the bulk of the gel off of his hand. "You're good, give it a go." David studied himself in the mirror for a moment, his dark eyes - so much like his father's - staring intently as he thought back over how to properly do what he needed to do, before he began to push his hair back, trying so hard to do it the way his dad had just done.

When he was a first born, Liz had dug up a couple of baby pictures of Jess, and Rory had been amazed by the striking resemblance of father and son. In the years since then the similarities had only continued - he was so like the man she knew, and apparently, exactly the same as Jess had been as a young boy.

Rory pushed the door open a little (thankful that the men in her family were so handy around the house and the hinges didn't squeak) and slipped inside the room silently. The two of them were still focused on David's attempts to make his hair look just like Jess' so she had the chance to just stand back and watch their father-son moment.

"How's that Dad?" David asked, turning to look at his father. Rory's grin only got wider as she watched the hopeful look on her son's face.

"Pretty good for a first try. Nice job, buddy." David looked back at his reflection, beaming with pride. Then he looked up a little and caught sight of his mother, standing in the back of the room.

"Mommy! I did my hair, just like Dad's, see?" David asked, turning on his stool, to smile at his mother, showcasing the gap where his second baby tooth had fallen out recently.

"I see that," she replied, coming further in to the room. "You look so handsome," she added, giving him a kiss before he turned back to look in the mirror surveying his handiwork.

"So, I failed then," Jess observed, leaning over to kiss Rory quickly. "He looks nothing like me. You know, I really thought this would work. And then he'd put on that jacket your mom bought him, and we'd head out to the park, see if we could-"

"Pick up some chicks?" Rory finished, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Well, it's a thought."

"One you don't have too often, I hope." Jess picked up his son, who held his arms out as he bounced on the stool and together the three of them walked back along the hallway and down the stairs.

"Oh, well, no. They aren't for me. I just figured, you know, he's new at this, he'll need a wing man."

"Of course, our six year old son definitely needs a wing man. You're right. Go ahead."

"Ah, no, that's ok. It'd be more fun if we looked alike, but this way, I'd just look be some weird old guy trying to pimp out a little kid. Not the best image."

"Geez, you and Luke really need a boys weekend don't you?"

"Why do you say that?"

"You're desperately fishing for compliments. Fine, I'll say it; you're handsome too."

"Was that so hard?" Jess asked, nudging Rory as he flung David onto the couch.

"I think I need to lie down," Rory fanned herself pretending she actually did feel weak.

"That's real sweet, very loving."

"Go play trucks or something with your son." She instructed. "I have a dead line and having to search for the two of you and then watch your adorable lesson took up quite a bit of my time."

"We weren't in there that long." Jess objected, leaning down to tickle David, who shrieked with laughter.

"Beside the point."

"How is that beside the point? That is the point."

"Just... I have to work, so I give you permission to go pollute his mind, ok?"

"Playboy or Papa?" Jess checked, scooping David up off the couch. Rory rolled her eyes at him, frowning. "Right. You wanna go read some Hemingway with me little man?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah!" Jess parroted, lifting David up onto his shoulders and carrying him out of the room.

"And next time you steal my books, can you try and remember to put them back before I catch you?" Rory requested. Her only answer was more laughter from her two little boys as they continued to move through the house. Shaking her head, Rory headed off to the room she and Jess had converted into their office.

A few hours later as the three of them were about to sit down for dinner, David looked up at his parents. "What does pimp mean?" he asked, stunning the two of them into silence.

"Ask your grandma," they replied simultaneously.


End file.
